Various color-corrected high image quality lenses for use in high definition TV displays (HDTV) and in the projection of data and graphics are known in the art. These lenses are most frequently used in "front screen" two piece systems, i.e. systems where the projector and the screen are two different units. As a result of the long distance between the projector and the screen, most of the lenses used in such systems have a half field of view of under 30.degree..
In recent years, one piece projection TVs have become increasingly popular. These systems utilize a "rear screen" configuration in which the image is projected onto the rear surface of a translucent screen which is combined with the projector into a single unit. To achieve a small overall size for such systems, the lens must have a field of view as wide as possible.
To help achieve this goal and to provide for an increased amount of light at the outer portions of the image, CRTs having curved faceplates are most often used in this application. The faceplates of such CRTs are plano-convex shaped with the phosphor being deposited onto the curved side of the faceplate. As a result, the outer portion of the phosphor side of the faceplate curves towards the lens.
Presenting the CRT image on a surface concave towards the projection lens allows the lens to achieve a half field of view in excess of 40.degree. and, in some cases, in excess of 45.degree.. However the control of electron beam spot size on a curved phosphor surface is much more difficult than on a flat surface. Spot size control is important since a small and well controlled spot size is required to produce a high quality image.
As long as spot size was fairly large, projection lenses did not need to be corrected for axial color. However, since the introduction of digital TV (e.g., satellite TV and DVD), the quality level of one piece rear projection TV sets for consumer use has been significantly raised.
Manufacturers of such systems are now more willing to use more complicated electronics to minimize and control the size of the spot on a curved phosphor surface, e.g., they are willing to produce spot sizes whose sizes are 0.15 millimeters or less. Consequently, new high quality wide field of view large aperture lenses are needed to compliment the higher quality outputs of curved phosphor CRTs. As with the optics used in data and graphics projection TV systems, these new lenses need to be corrected for color.
A typical color corrected lens used with a flat faceplate CRT consists from long conjugate to short of a front weak aspherical unit, a main power unit which includes a color correcting doublet and a strong positive element having most of the power of the lens, a corrector unit following the main power unit and having at least one aspherical surface, and a strong negative power unit associated with the CRT faceplate and providing most of the correction for the field curvature of the lens.
From the image side, the main power unit typically has a negative element followed by a positive element of similar focal length but of opposite sign. These two elements provide color correction for the lens and their combined shape is typically meniscus towards the long conjugate. The single positive element providing most of the power of the lens usually follows the color correcting doublet.
In accordance with the present invention, it has been found that when the CRT faceplate is curved, the simultaneous correction of chromatic and monochromatic aberrations using commonly available glass is difficult to achieve when the leading element in the color correcting arrangement is negative and the overall shape of the color correcting doublet is meniscus towards the long conjugate of the lens. In particular, it has been found that the correction of lateral color is not good enough to obtain a sufficiently high level of image quality.